CosBlog #90: Naked Snake By RBF Productions

While military costumes are a great place for new cosplayers to get their feet wet, Rick of RBF Productions proves that the devil is in the details when it comes to successful soldiers. Working with the limited color palettes and materials used by armed forces means accuracy is paramount to properly conveying a character. There is no mistaking Rick for anyone other than the one and only Naked Snake.

Who: The CharacterThe character shown in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake eater is the "original" Snake from which Solid Snake and Liquid Snake are cloned. Solid Snake has been the hero and protagonist of Metal Gear since 1987. The character of Big Boss is interesting because he eventually becomes the antagonist of Solid Snake. His legacy is the red line of the Metal Gear Solid franchise.

Why: The
DecisionMy brother and I played MGS when we were young and we were always intrigued by the story. The games themselves are just awesome and because I'm into making costumes of game and movie characters... I thought why not create the one and only "real" Snake. I wanted to do the character, the franchise, and so many memories justice. Homage to the awesome and compelling character that Snake is.

What: The
ProcessThis costume was not much in terms of a challenge. I had already done Solid Snake so I knew I could portray a decent enough Snake. The costume was fun in that is was more a gathering and collecting of authentic military equipment. The ammo pouches are real US Vietnam era pouches. The STABO harness is a real military issued harness from the late sixties/early seventies. The holster is replica colt holster, worn by soldiers from World War II to well... Snake's era. Even the found/bought items all needed to be altered to a fewer or lesser degree to fit the character perfectly though.

The BDU, bandana, sneaking suit and gloves were altered or built from scratch, so that took some time. But not as much as for instance the Connor Kenway costume from Assassin's Creed I made. However here in also lies the challenge. The fewer props and costume parts, the better the overall look must be to do the character justice. The danger in doing a character like Snake is ending up as looking like an average guy in a military outfit. The cosplay needs authenticity if it wants to do the awesome character of Snake some justice. That's what I tried to do.

Where and When:
The DebutI have not worn Naked Snake to a convention. I made this costume for myself mostly and I wanted to get some nice pictures of it. We got the idea for making a short film around the character and ended up doing that. You can find the clip here
, if you're interested.

At first we had found a location around an abandoned factory which looked nice from the outside. The inside wasn't useable though. We drove around for some alternative locations and found this terrain with a lot of old military equipment and vehicles... Perfect and spot on for the setting of a Snake shoot. So we actually bypassed the abandoned factory and did the whole thing on this awesome military terrain.

The GalleryNaked Snake costume made and worn by Rick Boer. Make-up done by Rick Boer. Pictures by Cynthia Veekens. Short film written and directed by Rick Boer. Filmed by Cynthia Veekens and Ruben Terlouw. Edited by Cynthia Veekens. Rick Boer as Naked Snake. Voice talent by Rick Boer. With a big thank you to Jeroen.

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